The Blue Feather
by SilverGate555
Summary: Annie doesn't have any memories because a spirit knocked them out of her head. Fact. She can get them back through exposure to her everyday life and seeing familiar people. Possible fact. And she needs to hide the memory loss in the meantime. Easier said than done, especially when Annie doesn't know anything going on besides a hinted relationship with the town perfumer...
1. Birthday Girl

Annie woke up, her head aching. There was the feeling of a blank emptiness in her mind as though she innately knew what she'd lost...

She got up from the floor, unsteady. She feared, for a few seconds there, that she was going to collapse. She braced herself against the wall behind her as she went over the conversation from before.

"_I__'m a spirit from a distant world. I'm trapped inside the place where your memories used to be. So if your memories were to return, then I would get pushed back out instead."_

"You okay, Annie?"

The spirit was in front of her. He looked like a younger boy, his green eyes wide and bright. The costume—no, not a costume, those must be his regular clothes—consisted of a patterned black and purple tunic with a few golden colored necklaces over it. His ears were long and pointy. He definitely looked like he was from another world. It was weird to realize that he was in her head, and other people wouldn't be able to see him.

She massaged her forehead and viewed her surroundings.

"Uh, do you remember anything?" the spirit asked. His name was Orion; he'd already explained that to her before she woke up.

Yup, he'd gone over the whole history: he was a spirit who somehow collided with head, knocked out her memories, and now their souls were intertwined. She'll need to regain her memories by living her ordinary life, or bad consequences will happen. To add more icing to this cake of disaster, she has to hide her memory loss from everyone or they might lock her up into a mental hospital, where she won't be able to regain her memories. Well, she was going to have a fun few months.

The whole thing was unbelievable except for the fact that she was living it. _She couldn't remember anything._ Trying to recall anything from before her conversation with Orion set her in front of an indomitable wall. It was weird to trust him, except that she had no other choice. So she made a resolve to trust him, at least for the time being.

Blinking, she took the time to look over where she was. The room she was standing in right now was massive with all kinds of assortments among the walls, and she strolled along, trying to see if anything specific caught her attention. She quickly determined that there was one large room that served as both a bedroom and kitchen, and there was a walk-in closet and bathroom attached. Nothing about it brought anything back.

To Orion's question, Annie shook her head.

"Well," Orion said hopefully, "I've found a book with your name on it, so it looks you were right about your name. It seems like you live alone. I also found that you're the owner of an estate called Clover Farm."

"I'm a farmer?"

"It looks like that. According to these records, you also own a few farm animals, your most shipped crop is peaches, your best trading partner is Silk Country...and your birthday is Autumn, Day 16."

Annie found a calendar close to her bed and checked it. Each day finished was crossed out until it was...

"Today is Autumn 16," she whispered.

* * *

Once the overwhelming shock of it came through, they needed to make a game plan. Orion recommended that she do her farm chores first and then start talking to people later. She decided that was a good enough plan to work with under the circumstances. On a positive note, with it being her birthday, it might be possible for more interactions that would help her regain her memories. When she left the house she found that she'd gotten a letter from somebody named Raeger, which mentioned him having a restaurant. She wasn't sure if that rang a bell, but she made a mental note to try to stop by later if she could find it. It's possible he was a good friend of hers who could bring something back.

The farm work was exhausting. Annie realized to her delight that she remembered _some_ of the basic steps around the farm, even if it was just out of autopilot. She vaguely remembered some of the livestock's names, which made sense considering the fact that she must've spent a great deal of time taking care of them, though her memories were limited to that. The farm chores still took forever, and she worked until almost three in the afternoon. Then it was time to face people and pretend she wasn't suffering from amnesia.

The first person she saw was a reserved looking girl with brown hair and a blue headband. "I hear today's your birthday. Happy birthday. Have a nice day."

Annie blinked.

"Is that it?" Orion asked in a worried tone. "Maybe you're just not close friends with her..."

"Thank you," Annie told her, trying not to look at Orion. She felt like she had to say more, but there was a lump in her throat. She really couldn't remember this person.

The girl then moved elsewhere at a moderately fast pace. Well, all right then.

"Maybe we should just go and sell our crops to Silk Company," Orion suggested.

Good enough idea, but they needed to find Silk Company first.

Annie walked through the trail path down the hill. It seemed to go...somewhere. The location of her own house appeared fairly isolated, but since she saw numerous other people walking by, they had to come from somewhere. After following the main path, she found the start of the town. It was a quaint place with only a few buildings, but it seemed like something, and it was clearly the busiest area. There were shops and what appeared to be a town hall.

From then on, they managed to find the Trade Depot in an acceptable amount of time. After that, they were completely unsure what to do so they went to the front desk.

"Hullo. Welcome to the Trade Depot Information Desk," the melancholic looking man from the other side of the counter said. Annie searched her memory for him but couldn't find anything. "How may I help you?"

"Um..."

"Annie, I think the traders are over there," Orion said. "We don't need to speak with him."

"Sorry, I'm okay for right now," Annie said and she backed away from the desk. She headed to where the traders were with their carts full of goods. She felt like their faces were vaguely familiar, but she wasn't able to trace them down to anything concrete or specific. In the end, she found herself selling all her new crops to Wheat Company, which had a premium on fall crops today.

Emphasis on _had_, because once she was done with them the price of fall crops lowered. Oops.

"All right, I think we should take a closer look on your bag," Orion said. "That could be useful."

"Okay..." She rustled through it. There were a ton of metals, some flowers. A few variants of wine—"we can sell that". Some fish. And a...

Blue feather.

It was in a small box with a note enclosed on it. She held the note up, reading: "A special feather traditionally given to one you hold near and dear. If words fail to describe how wonderful you think they are, give them this."

"I wonder what that means," Orion mused.

Something pulled at Annie's heart. She wasn't sure why.

* * *

Annie continued talking to as many town inhabitants as she could. It was a small town where everyone knew each other—that much was clear. Trying to keep her amnesia hidden was terrifying, but the payoff of getting her memories back was greater so she tried to get herself to be used to the risk.

She'd gotten quite a few gifts so maybe she was popular around town. She was continuing to scout through the area when she came across a small neighborhood made up of a few houses. She found a man with jet black walking around the nearby streets, and he caught her attention. There was something so refined about him for a reason Annie couldn't explain; he was tall and wore a trench coat, and there was the slightest hint of cologne on him. They made eye contact, and the warmth of his gaze displayed familiarity.

A hot rush came over Annie. The feeling wasn't undesirable but rather thrilling.

"Do you know what day it is today?" His voice was deep, luxurious.

Annie smiled. She'd gotten a similar reaction from the others before.

"I've got an inkling of an idea." It was a strange thing to say, but better than nothing. Maybe saying nothing would be odder.

As it was, the man seemed to take her response in stride.

He appeared bashful for a few moments, his eyes not on her as he straightened up his coat. "Sweetheart, when you open the door to the house tonight, something incredible may happen." He looked up and his eyes were of a bright amber color. "Just remember not to stay out too late."

"That's...kind of a weird thing to say," Orion commented. "Annie? Are you okay?"

Annie's breath was taken. Something stirred in her memory—she recalled a carriage, her screaming, him—

He saved her didn't he? She remembered it now. She was standing in front of a carriage and he dragged her out of the way.

Who was this guy?

Without fully realizing it, she found herself descending to the ground, and she forced herself to stay conscious, even as her vision became spotty.

_"Annie!_" The man reached out, his arm automatically curved around her shoulder to steady her. "What happened?"

She took in a deep breath, secure under his grasp. She managed to straighten up and her vision cleared.

"You almost fainted," Orion said, his voice frantic. "That memory must have been important to you."

"Ah, nothing happened..." She felt her face rush with heat as she made eye contact with the man in front of her. "I'm okay."

She spoke to both Orion and the man with those words, but neither seemed convinced. In her vision, Orion crossed his arms, lost in contemplation.

"Have you been pushing yourself too hard today?" The man placed his hand on her forehead to check her temperature. Again, there was a familiarity in his touch, and even as her mind couldn't remember his name, her body recalled him. When he noticed her temperature was normal, he stood back and pressed his hand to his mouth in deep thought.

"You should rest," he said.

"I'm fine," Annie muttered. "Really..."

"Klaus! Annie!" A woman with blond hair waved at them from a nearby house.

That golden hair was the first thing that caught Annie's gaze, which then shifted to the black corset-like top and the flowing white skirt. The woman brushed stray hairs aside from her face and Annie was stricken by the delicate way she did it. She was refined too, and when she came up next to Annie, she had the scent of chamomile. The man smiled at the woman, but there was still a shadow of unease on his face. Annie's feeble insists were lost on him.

Klaus...was that the man's name? A warm glow came over Annie. It felt right. Without consciously realizing it, she had been searching for his name, and hearing it now seemed to cement it into her memory.

"I've got a present for you, Annie," the woman said. "Happy birthday!"

"Thank you," Annie said, putting it away into her bag, but the woman's mouth moved into a small frown.

"Is everything okay? You look awfully pale."

"Iris, I don't think she's feeling well."

Iris. Klaus—

_"Do you think that Klaus and I make the perfect couple?"_

The backdrop: Oak Tree Town, near the bridge. The characters: Annie, wearing a blue dress, with Iris next to her. The weather: pleasant, slightly sunny...

It felt like Annie was living it again. There was no idea about any context in the conversation, not from before, nor after. The only thing her mind could latch onto was that image, that sunshine on her face, and that line of dialogue.

"Annie..." It was Orion. "I feel like..."

_Like he was being pulled out of her mind._

She could still see him. He was in the corner of her eyes, and he clutched his head in his arms.

"I'm not in pain, but it feels weird." A quick clarification, but it didn't ease Annie's worries.

Reality set in, with Iris and Klaus surrounding her. "We're going to take you to the clinic."

Annie's chest tightened. That was exactly the kind of thing Orion warned about. If she was trapped in a hospital for extended periods of time, then she wouldn't be able to explore and regain her memories. But they wouldn't take any protests and brought her to the clinic.


	2. A Few Tense Conversations

"Are you sure you're okay, Annie?"

_Damn sure._

The cup of water, ice floating on the surface, chilled her hands. She stared down at the water, watching how the ice cubes slowly drifted around the cup. She didn't want to look up. She knew Klaus was there, a slight scowl on his face. Iris had left but Klaus had stayed with her, and she had a feeling she knew why.

"We've talked about this before."

"This isn't good," Orion said. It wasn't. If she was supposed to refer back to another conversation...

Klaus sighed and sat down at the chair across from her, his eyes displaying exhaustion. His fingers were pressed against his face again in contemplation as the words suddenly came out. "I do worry about you. It's impossible not to. You don't really seem to worry about your own health. You're young, and you're careless, and while I wonder if the age gap between us is part of the difference in opinions between us, I don't think what you're doing is healthy. You work sometimes practically to the point of collapse."

The ice clattered inside the plastic cup. Annie couldn't speak. She felt instinctively that any word she uttered then would've been the wrong thing to say, so she waited for the moment to clear. She could even hear the clock tick from its position in the wall, going through each second in methodical clicks. She bit the inside of her cheek, and it was strange how automatic it felt, like a habit. (Did the _real_ Annie do that? The Annie with all of her memories, she meant...)

That real Annie. Was she gone? What was a person besides an accumulation of memories and experiences and relationships? The real Annie would know what to say and do, but she wasn't there. Instead it was this...fake Annie who wore her shell.

"Annie..." Klaus's voice was low. "Annie, please look at me..."

She looked up, swallowing hard. Klaus was watching her steadily, waiting for her answer. She knew she couldn't keep him waiting on this, and she let go of a deep breath.

"I'm sorry for worrying you." It was barely above a whisper. Her voice sounded small and vulnerable.

"I think," Orion said, "it makes him really anxious when you don't speak to him. We need to make sure he's not suspicious."

That was true. She had to act like she still had her memories and knew all these people, even if she didn't.

Klaus nodded. "I...can't stand angry at you. Promise me you won't ignore your health?"

"I won't," Annie said immediately. "Today was...an off day. I promise that."

Angela, the nurse, came in. "Oh, Annie? You're still here? Are you really fine?"

"I am," Annie said, getting up from the chair. She placed the half-empty cup of water behind her on a table. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Angela gave her another scrutinizing look. "Next time you get dizzy like that you should come here, not put your health in danger."

"I will."

When Annie left the clinic with Klaus she felt his watchful gaze on her. Then he locked her fingers with his and tightened them, quick, as though he'd done it so many times before. Annie felt her face turn hot though she tried to distract herself with other thoughts, forcing her attention to a nearby potted plant.

"Well, I guess that shows he's definitely your boyfriend," Orion said. "I had suspicions from before, but..."

But this is proof more than anything else at the moment, his fingers interlocked with hers on the open street as others passed, his hair stroked by sunshine. Annie found herself smiling despite the fact that her face was probably bright red. She hoped that she was holding his hand right, not putting too much pressure into it...

A memory...not volatile this time, but instead somewhat easy, slipping into her mind like a dream. They stood together, her head on his shoulder, against a starlit sky.

_"Look, Klaus. I've never seen stars like that __in the city."_

_"Me neither, but I'm glad __I got to see you with you."_

"You look so lost in thought."

They were standing in front of the clinic. Annie couldn't meet his eyes.

"Yeah, I was just...remembering something."

There was a dry smile on his lips. "It must've been something good, then."

"Hmm..."

A thought occurred to her: even if she did get all her memories back, would she be able to get back the same person? Or would it even be possible to get them all back? But she wanted it all back, for the sake of the real Annie, and all the people the real Annie knew. For Klaus's sake too, even.

"You still seem a bit dazed." His words came out without much effort to spare her, and Annie found herself wincing on the inside at their harshness, a comment that unhesitatingly hinted at her inability to cope with the situation. He had no idea how "dazed" she really was.

"Well...it's been something of a long day." She brushed back her dark hair away from her face, avoiding his eyes. "But I'm okay, you know." She stopped at that, though her thoughts trailed on in a rush of desperation.

Klaus's eyebrows furrowed, but he didn't insist.

* * *

Annie headed back to the farm, not knowing what else to do. It was such a small town there didn't seem to have much there at all. As she walked the long way to her house, she mulled over the recovered memory of her and Iris, standing near the bridge to the town. Annie stood there for a few minutes, allowing the comforting autumn breeze to brush against her cheeks. There was nobody else there which gave her a sense of privacy as she observed her surroundings. To one side was a river running fast and a patch of flowers, to the other side a dominating tree stood over her. She lingered there for a few moments but nothing came to her.

_"Do you think that Klaus and I make the perfect couple?"_

She couldn't remember who said this, but it must have been her. After all, it appears more like she and Klaus are a couple, so it would be more reasonable to come to that conclusion...

Chasing away uneasy thoughts, Annie glanced over the direction opposite to the town where, poking from under a nest of trees, were the tops of two farms. They were colored completely differently which made it easy to differentiate them, and under the circumstances, they could've been rival farmers to herself. She would've been surprised had she not known them.

"Maybe there will be someone you recognize," Orion said thoughtfully. "After all, everyone seems to know each other here."

Annie proceeded on that route, which was simple enough that she had no fear of losing the path upon returning. She had just arrived at one of the farms when someone waved her over.

"Hey! Annie!"

It was boy around her age, or maybe slightly younger. There was a childish energy on his face as he came to her, both his overalls and face coated in a light amount of dirt. His cheerful smile, bold and carefree, seemed jovial enough to demonstrate familiarity.

This farm was on a much smaller scale than Annie's, which was spread over two sections of land and included several facilities for manufacturing different items from perfume to cheese. Instead, this one had only the basic elements of a chicken coop and a barn, and the seed plots were more haphazardly attended to. Not much of a rival farmer worked here, then.

"Why are you so quiet?" the boy said. "It's just me! Fritz!"

"Well, that was convenient," Orion muttered.

"Hi Fritz," Annie said, struggling to remove the dutiful tone from her voice. "What have you been doing today?"

"Nothing much," Fritz said, his chest puffed. "Just, you know. Farming and working hard."

Annie looked back at the seed plots. Strangely, some of them were partially watered. So this was his—Fritz's—farm. His youthful appearance suggested he was a farmhand at best, but any farmhand that worked like this would probably be fired.

"Right."

"Today's your birthday, Annie! I didn't forget."

He gave her a present which she accepted and placed into her bag. It felt light in hand as she carried it to where her other gifts remained and for a moment she grazed her hand over the wrapper, wondering what it was.

"So, how's your special day been coming along?"

"It's been going great. Everyone in town is being so supportive." Annie realized how stiff she sounded and she cleared her throat. "I really love living here."

"Oh...you do? You changed your mind then?"

_Changed my mind? _The heat rushed to her face. "About...what?"

"I mean, you were talking about how this place was really small and not a good location for your growing farm..." Fritz's voice held slight resentment, and his gaze was almost accusatory.

"Huh...that's pretty interesting," Orion said. "Were you planning to move?"

"But I love the people here," Annie swiftly recovered, keeping steady eye contact with Fritz. "I feel like that's something I would definitely regret."

"Yup," Fritz said, his mood recuperating. "I feel the same way! I can't imagine going somewhere else without everyone here. It feels like we're one family even though we haven't been together that long."

"That's true."

"I guess this small town has had a few recent immigrants here," Orion supplied. Annie nodded in agreement without thinking.

"I can't imagine myself anywhere else," Fritz continued. "I just can't."

If Annie, right then, right _there_, had to decide on the perfect place to live without her memories to occupy her—she felt innately that she wanted to go where the skyscrapers were, where taxis blared down the streets and crowds of people crossed busy city streets. There was something light in her heart as she imagined this dream place, of passing through stores with friends, bags in hand, a bounce to her step. She looked around at the peaceful rustic backdrop that surrounded her, and her heart sunk as she thought about it all, the difference between her own conceptions and this quiet countryside.

"I don't know about that myself," Annie said.

"Yeah," Fritz said, his tone despondent. "Yeah, you always seem to say something like that."

* * *

She returned home in the early evening. Surprisingly, the day had went by so readily, and she felt like she hadn't accomplished much for her first day. Orion comforted her and urged her to look at the memories she'd already recovered, but she sensed an undertone of uneasiness in him as well.

This was a small town, and she'd already discovered pretty much everything to it. She found her boyfriend, her farm, and the places that she most frequented, but she still hadn't recovered much that was of substance. What else could she do to recover her lost memories? Exhaustion seized her—she put her bag aside and sat down beside her bed, her head on her knees.

It was so quiet inside her house. She could hear nothing but the consistent tick of the grandfather clock as the pendulum swung to and fro. It masked—or rather, worked as a complement to—her heartbeat.

Her mind wandered to that thought that kept lurking at the back of her head, the one that kept repeating that the real Annie was gone and unable to ever fully be regained. If the idea that a person was their memories was true, then certainly, the real Annie had all but physically died, and this person here was a ghost, a rebirth from Annie's ashes. This couldn't be right—there had to be some immaterial soul, Annie thought, some internal spirit that remained constant. She lifted her head; her hair was messy now, and she noticed quite clearly how it went past her shoulders. The old Annie must have chosen this haircut, and as she attempted to straighten up her hair, she saw her bag, and thought about how the old Annie must've wanted it and decided to buy it.

Suddenly Annie wondered what Fritz had gifted her before. It was light, and extremely so. She couldn't have imagined what it could've been. Using a slight amount of movement, she lifted the bag and brought to her. The insulated cold inside of her bag smelled faintly like cinnamon, and she rustled through until her fingers could at last grasp a small, rectangular box with a silver bow on the top. His gift to her.

She found a necklace inside.


End file.
